The Closer You Get To The Light
by Five Dollar Mixtape
Summary: DarkClan and LightClan believed in separating cats based on their pelts, but not in discrimination. At least, not until LightClan gets a new leader and their dark-pelted cats seem to vanish. Ashenkit is a proud, dark-pelted DarkClan cat, she always has been and always will be, but how will she grow up to help LightClan's dark-pelted cats?
1. AllegiancesPrologue

**DARKCLAN**

 **Leader-** **Wildstar:** A black she-cat with dark gray paws, ears, tail, and blue eyes.

 **Deputy-** **Riverflight:** A dark gray she-cat with a few silver hairs in her pelt, and green eyes.

 **Medicine Cat-** **Mousetalon:** A dark brown, almost black tom with equally dark eyes.

 **Dark-Pelted Warriors-**

 **Frostsong:** A dark gray she-cat with black ears, toes, and a ringlet around her tail with amber eyes.

 **Lionsplash:** A black tom with a few, dark golden specks around his green eyes and in his tail.

 **Apprentice: Duskpaw**

 **Appledust:** A dark russet she-cat with one blue eye and one green eye.

 **Sparrowfrost:** A dark gray tom with blazing amber eyes.

 **Apprentice: Kinkpaw**

 **Tigerwhisker:** A black tom with dark ginger ears, toes, and chest with green eyes.

 **Pinewind:** A black she-cat with bright green eyes.

 **Apprentice: Nettlepaw**

 **Clouddance:** A light and dark gray tabby tom with dark blue eyes.

 **Mossdawn:** A black and dark brown tabby she-cat with dark green eyes.

 **Light-Pelted Warriors-**

 **Tundrawind:** A large, white tom with green eyes.

 **Apprentice: Streampaw**

 **Nightfeather:** A small, silver and white she-cat with blue eyes.

 **Dark-Pelted Apprentices-**

 **Duskpaw:** A black she-cat with gray ears, tail, and markings around her dark eyes.

 **Kinkpaw:** A black she-cat with dark eyes.

 **Nettlepaw:** A black tom with dark gray ears, paws, and chest with dark eyes.

 **Light-Pelted Apprentices-**

 **Streampaw:** A silver tom with white ears, tail, chest, belly, and dark eyes.

 **Queens-**

 **Hazelgaze:** A black she-cat with dark gray patches and green eyes. Mother of Amberkit, Ashenkit, and Ripplekit.

 **Honeyfall:** A snow white she-cat with ice blue eyes. Mother of Otterkit, Robinkit, and Brightkit.

 **Dark-Pelted Kits-**

 **Amberkit:** A black and dark gray tabby she-kit with amber eyes

 **Ashenkit:** A dark gray she-cat with black paws, tail, and ears with green eyes.

 **Ripplekit:** A black tom with dark gray ears, chest, belly, and whiskers with blue eyes.

 **Otterkit:** A pure black tom with green eyes.

 **Light-Pelted Kits-**

 **Robinkit:** A gray and white patched she-kit with blue eyes.

 **Brightkit:** A dusty white she-kit with bright green eyes.

 **Elders-**

 **Echocliff:** A black tom with flecks of gray on his muzzle and dark blue eyes.

 **LIGHTCLAN**

 **Leader-** **Minnowstar:** A white and light gray tabby tom with blue eyes.

 **Deputy-** **Blazepool:** A white she-cat with light gray paws, ears, tail, and chest with bright amber eyes.

 **Medicine Cat-** **Reedbreeze:** A silver and white tabby with green eyes.

 **Light-Pelted Warriors-**

 **Rainflower:** A white she-cat with flecks of silver in her pelt.

 **Sageleaf:** A light and dark brown she-cat with amber eyes.

 **Apprentice: Rushpaw**

 **Sandpetal:** A light ginger she-cat with rare, golden eyes.

 **Badgerfire:** A white tom with a single, thin dark gray stripe going down his back and blue eyes.

 **Birchchest:** A light brown tom with white paws, tail, ears, and chest with green eyes.

 **Apprentice: Firepaw**

 **Thornstep:** A silver and white tabby tom with blue eyes.

 **Spiritheart:** A white she-cat with light gray markings on her fur and one blue eye and one green eye.

 **Dark-Pelted Warriors-**

 **Acornjaw:** A black tom with green eyes.

 **Sunmist:** A dark gray she-cat with black toes, tail tip, and ear tips with dark eyes.

 **Apprentice: Rosepaw**

 **Icemoon:** A black she-cat with a dark gray, almost black chest and belly with blue eyes.

 **Light-Pelted Apprentices-**

 **Rushpaw:** A light brown she-cat with dark eyes.

 **Firepaw:** A white and light gray she-cat with green eyes.

 **Dark-Pelted Apprentices-**

 **Rosepaw:** A black she-cat with dark gray markings around her amber eyes.

 **Queens-**

 **Pondlight:** A light gray she-cat with a white tail, ears, muzzle, and flecks with green eyes. Mother to Silentkit, Shadowkit, and Raggedkit.

 **Light-Pelted Kits-**

 **Silentkit:** A light gray she-cat with dark gray flecks and green eyes.

 **Dark-Pelted Kits-**

 **Shadowkit:** A black she-cat with blue eyes.

 **Raggedkit:** A black tom with dark gray stripes, ears, tail, with dark blue eyes.

 **Elders-**

 **Emberdapple:** A ginger she-cat with bright green eyes and light gray paws.

* * *

 _Seasons upon seasons ago, two cats were born, named Dark and Light. Dark's pelt was darker than the night sky, and Light's was whiter than the falling snow. Each of them prospered: while most cats could barely hunt well at night, Dark's pelt made him the perfect nighttime hunter, stalker, and fighter. While most cats were going hungry during Leaf Bare, Light was able to find prey and easily catch them with her snowy colored pelt. Each used to be the best of friends, until they met other cats._

 _They met a Clan, called NatureClan. It was filled with light and dark pelted cats, and even though they were just visiting, the two fit in perfectly. However, they shared their survival techniques with the cats, and the Clan was divided._

 _Most of the dark-pelted cats, and a few light-pelted ones, prefered Dark's method of night hunting, no matter the season. Most of the light-pelted cats and a few dark-pelted ones prefered Light's method survival during Leaf Bare. Even the Clan leader was on a side, and Dark and Light were forced to confront their situation. They quickly turned on each other, tensions rising. Finally, the old leader was struck down and a StarClan cat spoke to them._

" _This," the black and white tabby had mewed, her tail flicking from side to side, "cannot go on. Dark, you will start a Clan named DarkClan. Light, you will found a Clan called LightClan. Each of you will travel to the Moon Cave, where you will earn your nine lives."_

 _And so, the two cats went. When they returned, their old names no more and the responsibility of a Clan on their shoulders, they plotted out their new territories and traditions. Quickly, Darkstar and Lightstar established that light-pelted cats could only mentor light-pelted cats, and dark-pelted cats could only mentor dark-pelted cats. Not for discriminative purposes, but because they believed that light-pelted and dark-pelted cats could get the best training from their own. The exception to this rule was Medicine Cat apprentices._

 _Next, they decided to make more laws against discrimination. While there would be an obvious reason for it in each Clan, neither leader wanted their to be any, remembering how close friends they used to be. The first law was that no punishment may be given to a cat without a reason given to the whole Clan. The next was that Queens and Elders would not be separated by their pelts. Queens were giving new life to their Clan, and Elders had served their Clan well, and each role will be given respect. Kits, however, needed a glimpse into their future life, but may not be treated harshly by warriors and apprentices._

"Wait, wait, wait," the black kit with green eyes meowed, interrupting the black tom with flecks of gray on his muzzle and dark blue eyes towards the end of his story. "What do you mean that kits need a glimpse into our future life?"

"Well, Otterkit," the old tom meowed. "You, Amberkit, Ashenkit, and Ripplekit are very proud, dark-pelted kits." The tom looked over at the other three kits. Amberkit was a black and dark gray she-kit with amber eyes. Ashenkit, who was tilting her head curiously tilted towards the elder, was a dark gray she-cat with black paws, tail, and ears with green eyes. Ripplekit was a black tom with dark gray ears, chest, belly, and whiskers with blue eyes. "I'm sure all four of you will live a great, happy life in DarkClan. Robinkit and Brightkit, on the other paw," he turned his head to look at the other two kits. Robinkit was a gray and white patched she-kit with blue eyes, and Brightkit was a dusty white she-kit with bright green eyes. "Are light-pelted, and may not be treated as well."

"What?!" Ashenkit squeaked, a surprised look on her face. "But, Echocliff, we-"

"Yes, I know that _you_ treat Robinkit and Brightkit fine, but others in DarkClan might not. Your opinions also might change, depending on who your mentors are." He watched all the dark-pelted kits' faces change to a bit of dread, all wondering who their mentors would be even though that would be a few moons away until they turned six moons.

"What about us?" Robinkit asked. "Will our mentors make us hate the dark-pelted cats?"

Echocliff shook his head. "No, I don't think they will. Light-pelted cats have dark-pelted friends." Robinkit nodded before a voice outside the elder's den sounded.

"Kits!" Echocliff recognized the voice of Hazelgaze, the mother of Amberkit, Ashenkit, and Ripplekit. All five kits got to their paws and raced towards the exit.

"Attack the evil LightClan cat!" Ripplekit meowed, the other kits giving out cheers of agreement as they raced out with him and towards his mother. Echocliff shook his head, wondering what was in store for those kits.

 _The next law made was that light-pelted cats could trespass on LightClan territory, and and dark-pelted cats could trespass on DarkClan territory. Neither Clan would know how the other Clan's cats were being treated, and if those cats needed refuge then the other Clan must remain open to them. The rest of the laws remained the same._

 **Yes I got the name from Kingdom Hearts shut up**


	2. Chapter One

Ashenkit watched as a black tom with a few, dark golden specks around his green eyes and in his tail padded towards the Nursery, recognizing him as Lionsplash, the father of Otterkit, Robinkit, and Brightkit. She felt a quick surge of jealousy, but squashed it down. _It's the Queen's choice,_ she reminded herself. _Maybe our father was a… really bad cat! That hated light-pelts!_ she still couldn't completely convince herself. She looked around camp, looking for her littermates.

Ripplekit was nowhere to be seen, probably in the Medicine Den with Mousetalon again. Amberkit was in the clearing, learning a hunting crouch from an apprentice that she recognized as Kinkpaw. She had black fur with dark eyes. Ashenkit herself had always been more interested in fighting, but she had only been taught a few moves by Duskpaw, another dark-pelted apprentice. Currently, there was only one light-pelted apprentice in the Clan, Streampaw, and he was expected to become a warrior at any time. Ashenkit wondered what he had shown Robinkit and Brightkit.

"Hey, Ashenkit!" the mostly dark gray she-kit turned her head towards Nettlepaw, a black tom with dark gray ears, paws, and chest with dark eyes. "Are you okay? You look a little…" he trailed off.

Ashenkit got to her paws. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure? You looked like you were thinking pretty hard there." The she-kit nodded. "Well, if you say so." Nettlepaw looked over the clearing, seeing Amberkit. "Where's Ripplekit?"

"In the Medicine Den, probably."

The tom nodded. "Do you think he'll be a Medicine Cat apprentice?" he asked. Ashenkit thought for a heartbeat.

"He seems interested enough in it," she meowed, stretching and flicking her tail.

"Well, you guys do still have two more moons to decide," Nettlepaw meowed. "I just hope Hazelgaze is okay if one of her kits ends up being a Medicine Cat."

Ashenkit's ears perked and she tilted her head. "Why wouldn't she be?"

"Well…" Nettlepaw took a deep breath. "Well, I know that you won't remember this, but she was really happy when you guys were born. As soon as you first walked out of the Nursery for the first time she was going around to every cat that would listen, talking about how all of her dark-pelted kits would be the best warriors DarkClan had ever seen."

"Oh," Ashenkit meowed, looking around the clearing for her mother, and seeing her sitting by the edge of camp. Hazelgaze was a black she-cat with dark gray patches and green eyes. Her gaze was fixed on Amberkit's hunting crouch, a look of pride in her eyes. _How did I not notice that?_ "So you don't think that it'll go over well if Ripplekit becomes Mousetalon's apprentice?"

"Not really, no," Nettlepaw meowed. "But he'll have you and Amberkit."

The she-cat nodded, taking a better look around camp. Both DarkClan and LightClan were fairly small, so there weren't many warriors in camp at a time except at night. Except… for now. Only one small hunting patrol had been sent out that morning. The camp itself was encompassed in shadows, and from what Nettlepaw, Duskpaw, and Kinkpaw had told her and her littermates, so was the rest of their territory. Their dens were dug into the earth, with roofs made of branches weaved together to keep rain out. There was also a large, winding stone in the center of camp, where Wildstar called Clan meetings.

Speaking of that, Wildstar (a black she-cat with dark gray paws, ears, tail, and blue eyes) had just padded out of her own den and padded gracefully across the clearing, leaping onto the Winding Stone. "May all trained to blend into the shadows, join here beneath the Winding Stone for a Clan meeting!" she yowled. All the cats in camp seemed to have anticipated this, padding towards their leader. Nettlepaw dipped his head towards the she-kit, before he padded over to Streampaw and Kinkpaw and sat down.

Amberkit raced over towards Ashenkit, sitting down at the mouth of Nursery, just like Hazelgaze and Honeyfall, the other Queen in DarkClan, let them. They were quickly joined by Otterkit, Robinkit, and Brightkit as Lionsplash and Honeyfall padded out of the Nursery. Honeyfall was a snow white she-cat with ice blue eyes. The five were quickly joined by Ripplekit, who settled himself next to Robinkit and Brightkit. Ashenkit looked over at Otterkit, who was next to her. "What do you think this meeting's about?" she asked.

"Lionsplash said something about how LightClan kept stealing something from us," he meowed. "Maybe that?" Ashenkit nodded in response.

"That makes sense," Amberkit meowed. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Ripplekit had a bit of a confused look on his face, but he wasn't saying anything. The kits fell silent when Wildstar started speaking.

"Cats of DarkClan," she began. "As you know, there has been a lack of prey at the LightClan border, as well as LightClan scents on our side of the border." Nods spread throughout the gathered warriors and apprentices. "DarkClan will not stand for stolen prey. Riverflight will lead Frostsong, Lionsplash, Tigerwhisker, Appledust, Clouddance, Mossdawn, Tundrawind, Streampaw, and Duskpaw to the border and fight for what is ours!" Yowls of approval rose up from the cats, and Ashenkit couldn't help but feel excited and happy that DarkClan wasn't going to put up with stolen prey. "Streampaw, Duskpaw, keep in mind that if you fight well during this battle then you will earn your warrior names." The two apprentices looked at each other with smiles on their faces. "The closer you get to the light?" Wildstar yowled.

"The greater your shadow becomes!" the warriors and apprentices yowled, before Riverflight (a dark gray she-cat with a few silver hairs in her pelt and green eyes) led the warriors and apprentices out of camp.

"As for the cats here," Wildstar continued. "We will defend camp. While Minnowstar is a good leader, they have been stealing prey and we don't know what they'll do. This meeting is dismissed."

Hazelgaze and Honeyfall padded towards the nursery, looking down at their kits. "What does that 'closer to the light greater your shadow' thing they said mean?" Brightkit asked, tilting her head. Based on the look on the other kits faces, Ashenkit guessed that all the kits had the same question.

"I wish that I could tell you," Honeyfall meowed. "But that lesson is saved for your mentor."

"We have to wait that long?!" Robinkit meowed.

Hazelgaze nodded. "You'll be fine," she meowed.


	3. Chapter Two

Ashenkit watched as, when the moon was starting to disappear in the sky, the deputy padded into camp with her cats behind her. They were battered, with blood on their fur and looked exhausted, but they all wore smiles on their faces. Wildstar jumped down from the Winding Stone, where she was keeping watch, and padded into the group of warriors as Mousetalon rushed into his den. First, she padded up to Lionsplash and shared a few words with him. He nodded, letting out a purr. Wildstar was emotionless as she turned tail and weaved through the cats, stopping in front of Tundrawind. The two spoke for a few heartbeats, before the light-pelted tom nodded just as enthusiastically as his counterpart. Wildstar turned and went back to the Winding Stone, leaping on top of it.

She didn't bother calling her cats together, since they were all sitting in the clearing. "Two apprentices fought well today," she began. Ashenkit tossed an excited look over to Amberkit. The six kits were still sitting at the entrance to the Nursery: as soon as the Queens had heard that LightClan might attack camp they didn't let the kits set a paw outside of the den. Amberkit was looking just as excited as she was. "Duskpaw, Streampaw, come forward." The two apprentices didn't hesitate in weaving their way through the injured cats and stopping in front of the Winding Stone.

Wildstar turned her head to the sky, where the first stars were just starting to disappear. "I, Wildstar, Leader of DarkClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn." The dark-pelted leader turned her blue eyes to the two apprentices below her. "Duskpaw, do you promise to live in and like the shadows, to protect the legacy of our darkness and give up your life for it if needed?"

"I do," Duskpaw meowed.

"And Streampaw," Wildstar meowed. "Do you promise to live in and like the Leaf Bare dark, to protect the legacy of our darkness through Leaf Bare and give up your life for it if needed?"

"I do," Streampaw meowed.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names. Duskpaw, from this moment on, you shall be known as Duskecho. StarClan honors your courage and intellect, and we welcome you as a full warrior of DarkClan." Wildstar leapt down from the Winding Stone and set her head on Duskecho's head, the newly named warrior licking her shoulder in return.

"Streampaw, from this moment on, you shall be known as Streampath. Starclan honors your subtlety and strength, and we welcome you as a full warrior of DarkClan." The two cats repeated the actions that Wildstar had done with Duskecho.

"Duskecho! Streampath! Duskecho! Streampath!"

The kits happily joined in with the cheering, jumping to their paws. Mousetalon, who had come out of his den as Wildstar started the ceremony, padded up to the new warriors and started working on their wounds.

"Well, go on, off to bed," Hazelgaze meowed.

"But we want to go congratulate Duskecho and Streampath!" Amberkit meowed.

"You can do that in the morning, but for now you need some sleep," Honeyfall meowed, nudging her kits towards their nest. Hazelgaze followed in her pawsteps. Ashenkit curled up next to the warm pelts of Amberkit and Ripplekit. She closed her eyes and feel asleep.

 **X X X X**

Ashenkit leapt at her brother, who was staring into space. She easily brought Ripplekit to the ground, and the two rolled in the dirt for a few heartbeats before the mostly dark-pelted she-kit had her brother pinned. "C'mon, Ripplekit!" Ashenkit complained. "You barely even fought back!"

"I don't get why I _should_ ," Ripplekit complained. Ashenkit blinked in surprised. "All that fights bring are injuries. If we were still NatureClan…"

"Then we'd still need warriors," Ashenkit argued. "I heard Kinkpaw and Nettlepaw talking about how they were scenting fox on the territory last moonrise."

"But there would be less fighting."

"But without Dark and Light, we wouldn't be here."

"I'd rather have less fighting than…" Ripplekit trailed off, and Ashenkit's eyes widened. She was proud to be DarkClan, and couldn't imagine any other life for herself. It was like Echocliff had told her before: she was a proud, dark-pelted cat who would live a great, happy life.

"So you really do want to be a Medicine Cat," Ashenkit meowed, getting off of her brother. The tom nodded, getting onto his paws and shaking out his fur, trying to get out the dirt clinging to it. Her sister, on the other paw, didn't mind.

"Yeah," Ripplekit meowed. "But based on how Hazelgaze looks at you and Amberkit when you're play fighting, I don't think that it'll be received very well."

"Well, I, uh…" Ashenkit didn't have a response. It was one thing to realize it, but when she already knew and was worried for her brother, and Ripplekit was worried, too? How was she supposed to respond? She gulped. "If you want… I can be there with you when you tell her."

Ripplekit's ears perked. "Really?" she nodded, and a heartbeat later her ears were filled with the sound of him purring. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Okay, okay, calm down," Ashenkit meowed. Ripplekit nodded, going to grooming his dark pelt, as if he needed to do something to keep himself busy. "When do you want to tell her?"

The dark-pelted tom hesitated. "When we're half a moon away from starting our apprenticeship." The she-kit nodded in agreement. The tom stood and started to pad away before Ashenkit stopped him.

"Ripplekit?" she asked. He turned his head over his shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"What if Hazelgaze doesn't let you be Mousetalon's apprentice?" he stiffened before he answered.

"I guess we'll figure that out if it gets there."


	4. Chapter Three

Time seemed to pass fast for Ashenkit. One and a half moons past quickly, and finally the day approached when Ripplekit had decided to tell Hazelgaze about her son's choice for his training. The two sat outside of the Nursery, waiting for their mother.

"Why do you think she wants us to be warriors so bad?" Ashenkit asked.

"Do you think it has something to do with our father?" Ripplekit asked. She blinked, wondering once again about their father.

"Do you think he was a good cat?" she asked, looking up at her larger brother. Ripplekit shrugged.

"I don't know, but why would Hazelgaze not tell the Clan who he was if he was a good cat?"

The dark-pelted kit thought back to when Amberkit had asked their mother about their father. Hazlegaze had stiffened, hesitated for a few heartbeats, then snapped for her to 'stay out of other cats business' before stalking off. Amberkit didn't even have time to argue that it _was_ her business as well. She was snapped out of her thoughts when she noticed her mother padding towards them.

The two kits sat up straight, trying to look professional for the she-cat. Once Hazelgaze reached them, she looked down at the kits. "Hello," she meowed, a confused look on her face.

Ripplekit took a deep breath. "Can I talk with you, Hazelgaze?" he asked. The Queen looked surprised for a second, but nodded.

"Ashenkit, can you leave us alone?"

Ripplekit quickly shook his head. "No, I want her to be here." Hazelgaze blinked.

"Well, alright." She sat down, curling her tail around her paws and waited for Ripplekit to start speaking. Ashenkit gave her brother, what she thought was, an encouraging nudge.

"W-well," Ripplekit began. "I don't really know how to start."

"Feel free to ramble," Hazelgaze meowed encouragingly. Ripplekit nodded.

"Well, I guess that I don't… really see the point in it all," he meowed. "What I mean is, all the fighting. It just gives DarkClan cats more injuries that we don't need. If we had peace, then the whole Clan would be happier, so I've decided…" the dark-pelted tom trailed off for a few heart beats. "I don't want to be a warrior. I want to be a Medicine Cat."

A deafening silence met the three cats ears. Hazelgaze blinked again.

"You… what?"

"I want to be Mousetalon's apprentice." Ashenkit could tell that Ripplekit was trying to sound confident, but his voice still shook a bit. Hazelgaze didn't respond, just rose to her paws and left camp. Ashenkit swallowed.

"...Well, that went better than I was expecting."

Ripplekit turned a sad glare towards his sister. "That's not helping," he grumbled. She pressed herself against him, trying to comfort him.

"I'm sure you'll be a great Medicine Cat, Ripplekit."

"You'll be a great warrior, Ashenkit."


	5. Chapter Four

"Who do you think your mentor will be?" Ashenkit asked her sister, her tail tip twitching excitedly.

"I don't know, I'm worried about mine!" Amberkit replied, trying to get out of Hazelgaze's grasp.

"May all trained to blend into the shadows, join here beneath the Winding Stone for a Clan meeting!" Wildstar yowled. Hazelgaze fit in one last lick to a struggling kit before Ashenkit, Amberkit, and Ripplekit (who was left to wash himself) rushed towards the bottom of the Winding Stone. Ashenkit was bursting with excitement, barely able to sit still as she sat down. The cats of DarkClan made a ring around her and her littermates.

"Today, I am going to perform one of the greatest ceremonies I have the honor of doing: making a kit become an apprentice." Out of the corner of her eye, Ashenkit noticed a few cats nodding happily. "Amberkit, step forward." The amber-eyed kit stood and took a few paw steps forward towards their leader. "From this moment on and until you earn your warrior name, you shall be known as Amberpaw. Clouddance, I believe that you are ready for an apprentice and I entrust Amberpaw's training onto you." A dark and light gray tabby tom with dark blue eyes weaved his way through the crowd, stopping in front of Amberpaw. The two touched noses, and Clouddance murmured something to his new apprentice which caused her to smile. The two disappeared into the crowd of cats.

"Ashenkit, step forward." Ashenkit rose to her paws and took a few steps forward, her heart hammering wildly in her chest as she looked up at her dark-pelted leader. "From this moment on and until you earn your warrior name, you shall be known as Ashenpaw. Duskecho, I believe that you are ready for an apprentice and I entrust Ashenpaw's training onto you." Ashenpaw turned her head to look at the crowd, watching as her new mentor padded through the other DarkClan cats, stopping in front of her. The two touched noses.

"I'll make you the best warrior I can, okay? I promise that you'll always beat Amberpaw." Ashenpaw let out a purr as she and Duskecho padded towards Clouddance and Amberpaw, sitting down next to them.

Mousetalon moved out from the crowd and sat down in front of the Winding Stone. He looked out at all of the cats in front of him. "Cats of DarkClan," he meowed. "As you know, I will not be around forever, far from it. I have decided to take on an apprentice, and have found a cat who shows patience and a thirst for knowledge." The dark-pelted tom let out a purr. "Your next Medicine Cat will be Ripplepaw."

Wildstar looked down at the tom, a happy look on her face. "Ripplepaw, do you accept the post of apprentice to Mousetalon?"

"I do," Ripplepaw didn't hesitate in his answer.

"Then at the Half Moon, you must travel to the Moon Cave to be accepted by StarClan before the other Medicine Cat," Mousetalon meowed.

"The good wishes of all of DarkClan go with you," Wildstar meowed. Murmurs of agreement rose up from the crowd of cats.

"Amberpaw! Ashenpaw! Ripplepaw! Amberpaw! Ashenpaw! Ripplepaw!"

Each name was cheered with enthusiasm. Kinkpaw and Nettlepaw padded up to their newest peers, while Duskecho and Clouddance gave their new apprentices some space to be congratulated on their new titles and positions.

"We made nests for you in the apprentices den," Kinkpaw meowed. "You guys are gonna be tired after your first day."

"How tired?" Amberpaw asked.

"Well, your paws are going to feel like they're going to fall off, and you'll want to sleep for a moon, so a bit tired," Nettlepaw meowed. The next thing Ashenkit knew, she was being pressed up against Hazelgaze. She knew that Amberpaw was on her mother's other side, and the dark-pelted cat was letting out a never ending purr.

"I'm so proud of you two," she purred. The word 'two' hit Ashenpaw like cold water, and she cast a glance over at Ripplepaw, who was being surrounded by Otterkit, Robinkit, Brightkit, and Honeyfall.

"No matter how much we don't want to," Ashenpaw turned her head towards Clouddance, who was padding towards the group of cats with Duskecho on his tail, "we should start Amberpaw's and Ashenpaw's training."

"Oh, yes, of course," Hazelgaze meowed, standing up. "Train hard, you two!" she meowed happily, bounding off with a large smile on her face.

"See you guys!" Kinkpaw meowed.

"Have fun!" Nettlepaw meowed.

Ashenpaw stood and padded over to Duskecho. "We want to give you your tours together," the warrior meowed. "Most of your training will be together, so we decided that you should get used to it now."

"Well, let's go. I don't want to waste moonlight," Clouddance meowed, turning on his heel and padding towards the camp entrance with Duskecho at his side and the new apprentices on his tail.


	6. Chapter Five

Ashenpaw soon found out that Nettlepaw, Kinkpaw, and Duskpaw weren't exaggerating when they said that the territory was just as shadowy as camp. Even more so, if she argued. The territory was filled with dead wood trees, and they passed by the occasional oak and pine tree. She quickly noticed that she kept losing sight of Duskecho in the dark shadows (Clouddance's light gray fur was easier to see), and it was quickly explained that dark-pelted cats learned to maneuver through scent, touch, and hearing. There were parts of the territory where you could see, and those were places that prey usually went, but true Dark Clan cats didn't need their eyes to move around their territory.

"What about light-pelted cats?" Ashenpaw asked.

"You can see my light gray fur, right?" Clouddance asked.

"Yeah, a bit," Amberpaw responded.

"White fur is even easier to see," he meowed. "Light-pelted cats, while they are trained to scent and feel and hear their way through the territory, are usually with other light-pelted cats, and don't need to use the tactics as much." Ashenpaw stumbled as Clouddance spoke, but quickly got back on steady paws and followed after the cats.

The four cats quickly stopped. "Here," Duskecho meowed. "Is the Dead Tree."

"Why do we call it that?" Amberpaw asked.

"It's the largest dead wood tree in the forest," Clouddance meowed. "Scent the air. What do you smell?" Ashenpaw opened her mouth and took a deep breath. She could smell the scent of soil, water, and a bit of humid air.

"Soil, water, and humid air," she meowed.

"There is a small pond nearby, but that isn't what's going to tell you that this is the Dead Tree," Duskecho meowed. "Amberpaw, you try." After a few heartbeats, she responded.

"There's something… flowery?"

"Yes, exactly!" Clouddance meowed happily. "Right at the foot of the Dead Tree, poppy flowers grow. It's the only place in the territory where they do."

"There's only another place like this in the territory like this where you have to identify the area by herbs, and that herb is catmint, so don't worry about having to remember that this smell is poppy flowers," Duskecho meowed. Ashenpaw took another deep breath. This time, now that it was pointed out to her, she could smell the flowery scent.

"But they're both herbs, shouldn't we remember how this one smells?" Ashenpaw asked, a confused look on her face.

"Catmint has a very… distinctive smell," her mentor told her, before she heard the two warriors start to pad off. "Come on! We'll take you to the pond Ashenpaw smelled next." Ashenpaw felt Amberpaw's pelt brush against hers as the two followed after their mentors. It didn't take long for them to stop in front of the pond. Ashenpaw didn't need the scent of water to tell her that she was there, she could hear the soft waves on the shore in front of her. Towards the center of the pond, she could see silver moonlight reflecting off of the water.

Next, the mentors led them to a few more landmarks: both of the moonlit clearings, one of which was filled with soft soil. Ashenpaw and Amberpaw were told that this was the training clearing. Next, was Dark's Dig, where they were told a story about how after Darkstar died, he got mad at his Clan for treating the light-pelted cats badly, and decided to attack his old territory. Ashenpaw smelled a delicious smell, and was told that that was catmint. After that was the Stone Shelter, identifiable by its strange, salty smell. They were told that it went a bit under ground, and could be used for lightning storms, heavy rains, or heavy snows. Finally, Duskecho and Clouddance took them to the LightClan border.

LightClan had a disgusting smell, as Ashenpaw soon found out. It was easier to see at the border. Their territory was covered with birch trees, and she thought that she could see a pine tree. "That," Duskecho meowed, "is LightClan territory."

"They smell horrible," Ashenpaw meowed, scrunching up her nose.

"I know," Duskecho let out a 'mrow' of laughter. "How they can live with that smell, I'll never understand."

"Now, we should get back to camp," Clouddance meowed, looking up at the sky. "By the time we get there, the moon will almost be set." Ashenpaw followed his gaze and saw that the moon was just above the trees.

"But what about the Rock Hollow?" Amberpaw asked as Clouddance led the way back into their dark territory. Ashenpaw immediately felt more comfortable in the darkness.

"You'll see that at the Gathering," Clouddance responded.

"What if we don't _get_ to go to the Gathering?"

"Unless you get in trouble before then," Duskecho meowed, "I doubt you will, not that I'm underestimating your talents, but Wildstar always takes new apprentices to the Gathering."


	7. Chapter Six

Ashenpaw let out a yawn, padding into camp with Amberpaw, Clouddance, and Duskecho just as the moon was disappearing into the horizon. She watched Riverflight planning out patrols, warriors and apprentices surrounding her. DarkClan, while it was primarily nocturnal, sent out two or three patrols during the day: they wanted to make sure that LightClan wasn't trespassing and to do some hunting during the day.

"You two can get something to eat, then get to sleep," Clouddance meowed.

"I'm taking you out bright and early tomorrow night, Ashenpaw," Duskecho meowed.

"What about me?" Amberpaw asked, tilting her head towards her mentor.

"We're training you two separately tomorrow," he explained. The amber-eyed apprentice nodded.

"Now, go on," Duskecho urged. The two needed no further encouragement to go grab something to eat. Ashenpaw choose a fairly small rabbit for herself, and Amberpaw choose a squirrel. The two littermates settled down and started eating, when a yawning Ripplepaw padded over to them.

"How did training go?" he asked, sitting down in front of the two. Amberpaw gave an enthusiastic nod as Ashenpaw swallowed a bite of prey.

"It went great! We even know where some herbs are now!" she meowed. Ripplepaw blinked in surprise.

"Really?"

"Well, you can't see out in the territory," Ashenpaw began to explain, "so you have to identify most of the places by sent." Amberpaw nodded in agreement.

"And at the Dead Tree there's poppy flowers, and at Dark's Dig there's catmint!"

Ashenpaw took another bite of her rabbit. "Did you guys do anything else?" Ripplepaw asked.

"We went to the LightClan border, and Stone Shelter, and the training clearing," Amberpaw meowed.

"And a pond," Ashenpaw added.

"Oh, yeah! And a pond!"

Ashenpaw took another bite and quickly swallowed. "Did Mousetalon tell you when you were going to leave camp?"

"Tomorrow, he said."

The dark-pelted she-cat took a few more bites of her rabbit as Amberpaw went on about how much Ripplepaw was going to love the territory, and reminding him to use scent to go through it.

"Wait, why scent?"

"You can't-"

"Sh!" Amberpaw cut her sister off. "Make it a surprise!" Ashenpaw let out a sigh, but nodded before finishing off her rabbit and licking her jaws.

"I guess we'll see you tomorrow, Ripplepaw." The tom nodded.

"See you, Ashenpaw," he meowed as she rose to her paws and padded to her new, unfamiliar den. Inside was four nests: two were drenched in Kinkpaw's and Nettlepaw's scent, but the others were open. She took the one closest to the wall for herself, then closed her eyes before sinking into a peaceful sleep.


	8. Chapter Seven

Ashenpaw woke to the feeling of some cat's paw shaking her awake. "Wake up, Ashenpaw," a voice told her. She let out a groan and turned over, then heard the cat over her let out a sigh. "Alright, fine, make me take drastic measures." The next thing she knew, she felt a cat let themselves fall on her. Her eyes popped open and she looked at the cat who was laying on her.

Nettlepaw was giving her a playful look. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Kinkpaw trying to wake up Amberpaw, who was having only having a bit more success than Nettlepaw was. Ashenpaw put her focus back on the tom on top of her.

"Get offa me," she murmured tiredly.

"Will you get up if I will?"

"Why do I have ta?"

"Because you have training today, remember?"

Ashenpaw let out another groan, trying to get to her paws, but now Nettlepaw wasn't getting up. She let out a yawn before she started speaking. "If I want to get up, you have to get off of me."

"But you're comfortable," the tom complained. "And warm," he added.

Ashenpaw heard a sigh from the other side of the den. "Nettlepaw," Kinkpaw meowed. The tom stiffened, quickly getting off of the dark-pelted she-cat. Ashenpaw lifted up her paw, a scrap of moss clinging to it. She shook it off, watching as the moss settled into the rest of the nest.

"Thank you, Kinkpaw," Ashenpaw meowed, starting to groom herself. The older she-cat nodded as Amberpaw sat up, shaking out her fur. Once Ashenpaw was done washing herself, she stood up and looked over at Nettlepaw. "Thank you for waking me up, Nettlepaw," she meowed, before she left the den and searched for her mentor.

Duskecho wasn't hard to find: she was sitting down and waiting by the camp entrance. Her tail was curled neatly around her paws and her dark eyes were watching the camp. When they made contact with Ashenpaw, she stood and gestured with her tail for the apprentice for her to follow her. The green-eyed apprentice bounded over to her mentor, then the two left camp.

"What're we doing today?" Ashenpaw asked.

"I'm teaching you to hunt," Duskecho meowed. The apprentice nodded, following her mentors scent (her pawsteps were nearly silent) as she lead the way to the training clearing. When the two reached the moonlit clearing, they padded into the center of it. "I'm assuming that you've been taught the hunting crouch?" she asked.

Ashenpaw, herself hadn't, but she had watched Amberpaw been taught it when she was a kit. She thought that she would have the basics of it down. She nodded. "Good, do it." She crouched, her tail lashing from side to side. Duskecho padded around her. The first thing she did was put her paw on her tail, and ordered her to keep her tail still. Next, she said that she was leaning on her right side a bit, and told her to fix that. Finally, she was told to crouch a bit lower. Next, she was told to stalk forward.

Each pawstep was kept light and slow, just as Duskecho ordered. She was careful to keep her tail still and make sure that her balance was even, doing her best to make sure that she kept close to the ground. "Turn," Duskecho ordered. She did, carefully placing her paw steps and making sure that everything was still perfect. "Good," the warrior purred, padding up to her apprentice. "Now, let's find some prey to test it on." Duskecho led the way out of the clearing.

After a while of padding through the territory, Duskecho stopped. "What do you smell?" she meowed softly. Ashenpaw sniffed the air, the scent of an animal reaching her nose.

"A… squirrel, I think."

"Try to catch it." Ashenpaw nodded, even though she knew her mentor couldn't see it. She got into the hunter's crouch, then reviewed over everything. Balance? Check. Tail? Check. Close to the ground? Check. Then, she stalked forward. Carefully, slowly, quietly. When she was close enough, she leapt forward and… felt the earth under her paws. She heard the squirrel scramble up a tree, and it was gone.

"Well, I wasn't expecting you to get it on your first try," Duskecho meowed. "None of us do."

"Can I try again?"

"If you can find something, sure."


	9. Chapter Eight

The next morning was a bit easier for Ashenpaw to wake up. Not a lot, but easier. Nettlepaw didn't fall on her to try to wake her up, so that was helpful. She followed after Duskecho and left camp, determined to catch something today.

"Try something new today," Duskecho meowed. "When you leapt for that squirrel yesterday, you went a bit too far. Listen for a little bit first, try to figure out how far away your prey is from you."

"But-"

"Patience is a virtue," her mentor cut Ashenpaw off, batting her ears with her tail playfully. "Not one you have, apparently."

"I can be patient!" Ashenpaw argued. Duskecho purred.

"If you say so," she purred, not sounding convinced. The warrior stopped walking. "Sniff the air," she ordered.

Ashenpaw opened her jaws and let the scents drift into her open muzzle. The scent of a rabbit hit her. "A rabbit," she meowed.

"Catch it." The mostly dark gray she-cat crouched, her ears perked. She heard rustling in front of her, and after a few heartbeats, determined that the rabbit was a few fox lengths in front of her. She quickly went through her checklist before she creeped forward, then pounced.

She felt fur under her paws, pinning the much smaller animal to the ground. "Give it a sharp bite to its neck," Duskecho meowed. Ashenpaw quickly ducked her head and killed the rabbit with a sharp bite, just as her mentor ordered. She lifted up her head, the rabbit in her jaws, purring. Duskecho padded closer to her. "Good job," she meowed.

 **X X X X**

Ashenpaw padded into camp proudly with her rabbit. Duskecho carried a squirrel and a mouse. She almost caught a mouse herself, but it got away from her. "Ashenpaw!" She turned her head to look at Ripplepaw, who was padding out of the Medicine Den towards her. "Did you catch that?" She nodded, purring.

"Go give that to Echocliff," Duskecho meowed. "I'm sure he misses you three in his den," she teased.

"Shut up," Ashenpaw muttered, causing her mentor to purr.

"Go on," she encouraged. Ashenpaw nodded, padding off towards the elder's den.

 **So, like everyone else, I have school. My first day got so bad that I took a five hour nap that not even food could wake me from. What I'm trying to say is that I'll have a harder time updating.**


	10. Chapter Nine

"As you know," Wildstar began. "The Gathering is tonight. Riverflight, Mousetalon, Echocliff, Frostsong, Appledust, Tigerwhisker, Sparrowfrost, Pinewind, Hazelgaze, Clouddance, Duskecho, Streampath, Tundrawind, Nightfeather, Kinkpaw, Nettlepaw, Amberpaw, Ashenpaw, and Ripplepaw will all be going." Ashenpaw tossed an excited glance to her littermates and den mates, before Wildstar leapt off of the Winding Stone towards the camp entrance.

The green-eyed she-cat ran after the rest of her Clan, her only problem being that she wasn't quite confident wandering through their dark territory yet. Still, she followed after her Clan's mingling scents, and remembered what Clouddance had said about how easy it was to see light-pelted cats at the sight of Tundrawind, Nightfeather, and Streampath. Their silver and white fur was easy to see in the blackness, making it a bit easier for Ashenpaw to maneuver her way through the territory.

"You excited?" Ashenpaw recognized the voice as Kinkpaw. She could feel some of her fur brushing against her own.

"Yeah," she meowed with a nod. "Do you know if there's any dark-pelted LightClan apprentices at the moment?"

Kinkpaw thought for a heartbeat. "If there are, they're new, like you guys." Ashenpaw nodded.

"Alright."

The cats started to slow down before they padded leisurely into the Rock Hollow. DarkClan had got there before LightClan. Ashenpaw took a few heartbeats to appreciate the place they were at. Stones jutted out from the walls, and a boulder was at the middle of it. The top of the stones on the wall looked flat, perfect for cats to sit on. Ashenpaw got pulled out of her daze by Amberpaw, who was pushing her towards a stone that Nettlepaw and Kinkpaw were already climbing up to. Ashenpaw quickly followed after them, jumping from stone to stone and landing on the large platform that the older apprentices had chosen.

From here, she could easily look down at the boulder in the center of the Rock Hollow, where Wildstar had settled at the top and Riverflight at a crevice on the rock. She wondered if there was another crevice on the other side for LightClan's deputy. She had heard her name was Blazepool.

"So," Nettlepaw began. "From what I can tell, Amberpaw and Ashenpaw's training is going well, but I don't know what's going on for you, Ripplepaw."

Kinkpaw nodded in agreement. "You and Mousetalon are usually just in your den."

Ripplepaw nodded. "There's so many herbs that I have to learn!" he meowed. "Cobwebs, poppyseeds, catmint, burdock root, raspberry leaves-"

"Yup, yup, we get it," Amberpaw meowed.

"Amberpaw!" Ashenpaw hissed.

"What?" she asked. "There's a lot of herbs, I just don't want to hear him list all of them."

Ripplepaw looked down at his paws. "Sorry, it's just hard to memorize all of them."

Nettlepaw nudged him. "You'll do fine!" he encouraged. "You'll be the best Medicine Cat DarkClan has ever seen!"

"You think so?" the younger tom asked, looking up.

"I know so."

"What are you going to say next?" Kinkpaw teased. "'Believe in the me that believes in you'?"

"Shut up!" Ashenpaw let out a purr of amusement.

"How long do you guys think you have until you become warriors?" Ripplepaw asked, tilting his head.

"Oh, that's right," Amberpaw meowed, thinking. "You guys are Streampath's and Duskecho's younger siblings, aren't you?"

Nettlepaw nodded. "But we don't know when, sorry."

"Our mentors haven't mentioned anything about a final assessment," Kinkpaw added. Ashenpaw turned her head down towards the ground of the Rock Hollow, where LightClan cats were beginning to flood into the clearing. She watched as two cats padded up to the boulder. One, a white and light gray tabby tom with blue eyes leapt to the top of the boulder. She guessed that was Minnowstar. The other sat down in a dip in the boulder, settling down. Blazepool was a white she-cat with light gray paws, ears, tail, and chest with bright amber eyes.

Nettlepaw stood and waved his tail, his eyes on three apprentices. They quickly made eye contact with him. Ashenpaw noticed that one of them had a disgusted look on her face. _Is it because we're all dark-pelted?_ she thought, but shrugged off the thought.

The three apprentices quickly reached them on their platform. "Hey, Nettlepaw!" a light brown she-cat with dark eyes meowed. The cat next to her, a white and light gray she-cat with green eyes, was the one who had the disgusted face. The last was dark-pelted: she was black with dark gray markings around her amber eyes. "Who're these?" the light brown she-cat asked.

"New apprentices," Kinkpaw meowed. "Amberpaw, Ashenpaw, and Ripplepaw."

"Who's your new apprentice?" Nettlepaw asked.

"Rosepaw," the disgusted she-cat meowed, her tail flicking.

"Well, Rosepaw, nice to meet you," the tom meowed. "I'm Nettlepaw, and this is Kinkpaw."

"I'm Rushpaw," the light brown she-cat meowed.

"Firepaw," the white and light gray tabby mewed. Ashenpaw dipped her head to the cats as Rushpaw quickly whispered something to Firepaw, but Ashenpaw couldn't hear it. Firepaw took a deep breath.

"What happened to Streampaw and Duskpaw?" Firepaw asked, tilting his head.

"It's been two moons since you've been to the last gathering?" Amberpaw meowed. The two nodded.

"They're warriors now, they should be around somewhere," Ashenpaw meowed. "Duskecho is my mentor, Streampath should be getting an apprentice soon." She turned her eyes to Rosepaw, who looked nervous. She hadn't even sat down yet. She sweeped her tail out at the space next to her, inviting her to sit down. Rosepaw only hesitated for a heartbeat.

"How's training been for you?" Ashenpaw asked.

"Good," she meowed softly. "My mentor's Sunmist." The other dark-pelted cat nodded, even though she had no idea who that was.

"Are they good?"

She nodded. "She's nice, and patient. What about Duskecho?"

"We get along pretty well, and I think we're both getting used to each other's personalities." Rosepaw turned her head to look at Ashenpaw, but before she could say anything else their attention was called to the two leaders in the center of the Rock Hollow.

Minnowstar was standing on the boulder. "I will go first," he meowed. "LightClan has one new apprentice, Rosepaw, apprenticed to Sunmist. One of our elders, Sharpstorm, has joined StarClan's ranks."

The DarkClan cats cheered Rosepaw's name, happy for a new dark-pelted cat. Rosepaw pressed herself against Ashenpaw, most likely for comfort. Ashenpaw didn't mind.

Wildstar stood next. "DarkClan also has new apprentices. Amberpaw, apprenticed to Clouddance, Ashenpaw, apprenticed to Duskecho, and Ripplepaw, apprenticed to Mousetalon." The three's names were quickly called. Amberpaw stood up, looking around the Rock Hollow happily. Ripplepaw had his head held high and was looking around with a smile on his face. Ashenpaw just held her head high.

"You're the Medicine Cat apprentice?" Rushpaw asked, tilting her head at Ripplepaw. The tom nodded.

"Yeah. It's been great, and Mousetalon's amazing."

Soon after, the cats were called to go home. Ashenpaw gave a quick goodbye to the LightClan apprentices before she followed the other DarkClan cats out of the Rock Hollow.


	11. Chapter Ten

"What are we doing today, Duskecho?" Ashenpaw tilted her head up at her mentor as she asked the question, curious as to why they hadn't even left camp yet. Were they training with Amberpaw and Clouddance? Were they going out to do something special?

"We're going to start your fighting training today," Duskecho told her. "But we have to wait for Clouddance and Amberpaw."

Ashenpaw nodded and looked back towards the apprentice's den. "Should I go check on her?"

Duskecho nodded after a heartbeat of hesitation. "If you would." The dark-pelted apprentice turned and bounded towards the apprentice's den, ducking into the small, but comfortable and warm space. Kinkpaw was still trying to wake up the stubborn apprentice, who still refused to wake up. _Where's Nettlepaw?_ she thought, before shaking the thought out of her head. He must have been out with Pinewind.

Amberpaw let out a groan, flicking her ear. Ashenpaw padded over to her littermate and the older apprentice. "Kinkpaw, I can wake her up," she meowed. The black she-cat turned her head to look at the younger apprentice.

"Are you sure?"

Ashenpaw nodded. "Nettlepaw's already out training, you should go out with Sparrowfrost."

Kinkpaw stood and dipped her head to the younger cat and padded out of the den. Ashenpaw turned her attention to her littermate.

"Amberpaw," she began, "we're starting fighting training today." Amberpaw's head shot up, her amber eyes wide. "Duskecho and Clouddance are having us train together, as well."

Amberpaw was out of her nest in a heartbeat. "Then what are we waiting for?!" she asked, leading the way towards the den entrance. Ashenpaw followed at her heels. She didn't miss the surprised look Kinkpaw cast her before she followed her dark-pelted mentor out of camp.

Clouddance was waiting next to Duskecho, sitting patiently with his tail curled around his paws. Duskecho stood when she saw Amberpaw and Ashenpaw padding towards them. The two mentors stood and padded towards the camp entrance, forcing the two apprentices to run to reach their mentors before they left camp.

"Duskecho?"

"Yes, Ashenpaw?" her mentor responded, not bothering to look back at her apprentice. Or maybe she was, it was too dark to tell.

"Not that I'm not happy to be training with Amberpaw," she began, "but we don't really need to train together to learn the basics of fighting, do we?"

"Good catch, Ashenpaw!" Clouddance meowed. She couldn't help but feel a bit suffocated by the loud praise, and wondered how Amberpaw survived under it. "We won't be teaching you any moves today."

"DarkClan has a different method of fighting than LightClan," Duskecho explained. "We fight with partners: it makes it easier to fight in the darkness and overwhelms LightClan when we fight against them, especially when we draw them into our territory."

"Our partner system also makes us closer as a Clan," Clouddance added. "While we don't have to spend every moment of the day with them, or hunt with them, we generally spend most of our time training together with them. You adjust to being close to that cat, to being a unit, and that makes it more manageable to talk to the whole Clan."

"So me and Ashenpaw are gonna be partners!" Amberpaw meowed excitedly.

"Ashenpaw and I," the other apprentice corrected.

"Shut up," Amberpaw purred, shoving her gently with her shoulder.

"Yes, you are," Duskecho meowed.

"Are you two partners?" Ashenpaw asked.

"Nope," Clouddance meowed. "Mossdawn is my partner, and Streampath is Duskecho's."

"Streampath?" Amberpaw asked. "But he's light-pelted!"

"They're littermates," Ashenpaw argued.

"But if they want to fight in the darkness, wouldn't Streampath give Duskecho away?"

"Wildstar took that into account when she made us partners," Duskecho meowed, a tinge of annoyance in her voice. "She makes the partners. Streampath and I get along well, and we fight well. Not only that, we have only lost a few fights." Ashenpaw heard Clouddance murmur something that she couldn't understand to the other warrior, before Duskecho let out a sigh. In front of her, she could see moonlight filling a clearing full of soft soil.

The two warriors padded into the clearing with their apprentices on their heels, before turning and facing them. "Alright, start fighting each other," Clouddance meowed with a smile.

 **Depending on where you live, you might have heard about the seventeen year old kid who was hit and killed on September 21st. The person who got hit was my older brother.**

 **I'm not okay, but I feel better when I'm doing something, so I'm not going to put my stories on hiatus. I'd actually expect more updates, depending on the day. Some days are better than others.**

 **Scott was a great brother. He played guitar (and he was amazing at it), he couldn't handle jumpscares, the only name we could agree on for our cat was Moon Unit, I had to pay him so that he would stop saying 'bow down to your president' (but I also got a Sunkist out of that dollar), and he would never leave a room without saying 'bye' twice.**

 **If you want to know more about him as a person, go read my two-shot Bow Down To Your Leader. I originally wrote it for a competition thing, but I also didn't want his personality to get lost in all the news stories.**


	12. Chapter Eleven

"What?" Ashenpaw asked, her eyes wide.

"You heard him," Duskecho meowed. "Fight each other."

"With your claws sheathed, of course. We don't want you really getting hurt, now do we?" Clouddance asked.

"But why?" Amberpaw asked, confusion leaking into every ounce of her voice.

"We need to see how you fight," Duskecho explained.

"With that out of the way, we'll be able to build on your natural skills from there," the tom added.

"It's just a spar," the other warrior meowed when she saw that the two apprentices were still nervous and hesitant. "The goal is to practice your skills, not to hurt each other." With that said, Ashenpaw was feeling better.

"But I don't-" Amberpaw's argument was cut off when her littermate leapt at her, sending both of them onto the ground.

Ashenpaw easily pinned Amberpaw to the soft clearing floor, her tail flicking from side to side. Amberpaw slithered her way out from under her before she leapt at her, but Ashenpaw made a clumsy dodge. The tabby turned and leapt at Ashenpaw again, this time knocking into her side and sending her stumbling off to the side. The dark gray she-cat jumped to the side, then turned and flashed out a paw and landed a messy blow to her sister's side.

Amberpaw let out an annoyed growl as she leapt for her again, but Ashenpaw ducked and turned to face her littermate just in time to be hit in the face with a hindpaw. She stumbled back a few steps before the tabby landed another hit to her chest. Ashenpaw shook her hand violently before surging forward and giving a gentle nip to Amberpaw's paw.

"Hey!" Amberpaw complained, holding up her assaulted paw. "You _bit_ me!"

"Barely," Ashenpaw shot back, hitting Amberpaw with her shoulder and sending her to the ground. The tabby landed with her belly to the sky, but before Ashenpaw could go for it, Amberpaw had turned over and was crouched close to the ground as she glared up at her sister.

Ashenpaw felt the breath get knocked out of her as she got knocked across the clearing, landing on the soft soil at the edge. She quickly caught her breath and lifted her head, to see Duskecho standing where she was, her eyes flicking between the two apprentices. Amberpaw flicked her tail to the side before leaping at the warrior, but Duskecho easily dodged, jumped to the side, then sweeped her paws out from under her.

Ashenpaw stood and rushed at her mentor, leaping and landing on her back. Duskecho flipped over and crushed her under her weight, forcing the air out of her lungs yet again. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Amberpaw rush towards the mostly black she-cat, before she was batted away a few heartbeats later. Ashenpaw finally slithered her way out from under her mentor, taking deep breaths.

"Since when were we fighting you?!" Amberpaw asked, flicking her tail.

"We'll stop when you meet your goal," Clouddance put in, casually grooming his chest.

"What goal?" Ashenpaw asked, tripping over her paws as she tried to dodge a blow from her mentor.

"The one we just made!" the tom meowed cheerfully.

Ashenpaw let out an annoyed growl as Amberpaw jumped into the air and leapt for Duskecho, but the she-cat dodged and cuffed Ashenpaw around the ears as she stood up. The dark gray she-cat jumped to the side as her mentor leapt for her, quickly regaining her balance with wild tail flicks. Amberpaw tried to hit her flank with a fore paw, but Duskecho batted her paw aside with her own and hit her in the chest.

Ashenpaw surged forward, slipping under her mentor as Amberpaw leapt for her. She kicked up her hindpaws and hit her in the belly, and she went of balance from whatever move Amberpaw had done.

Ashenpaw got to her paws, out of breath. Amberpaw was in a similar state. Duskecho, on the other paw, seemed perfectly fine, except for her ruffled fur. She sat down in the clearing and looked at them, causing a confused look on both of the apprentices faces.

"You can relax," Duskecho meowed, seeing their stiff and unpracticed stances. "You met the goal." Ashenpaw and Amberpaw looked at each other out of the corner of their eye before slowly relaxing their muscles.

"The goal," Clouddance meowed, padding over to the she-cats, "was to have you attack Duskecho at the same time. You're partners, you need to make strategies to deal with LightClan cats."

"One of the best ways to do that is to attack them at the same time, or to take turns attacking again and again with unrelenting force," Duskecho added. She stood up and started padding back towards camp. "When we get back, you can each have something to eat."


	13. Chapter Twelve

"Duskecho, can I ask you something?" Ashenpaw asked, sniffing the air for prey.

"That's what I'm here for," the older she-cat responded.

"There's this chant thing that the Clan does," Ashenpaw began. "'The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes.' What does it mean?"

"Sit down," Duskecho ordered. Ashenpaw sat, curling her tail around her paws. "LightClan are obsessed with the light: the light of their territory, the paleness of their pelts. Have you noticed how dark pelted cats have names that are… well, light?"

"Like Sunmist and Rosepaw?" Ashenpaw asked.

"Yeah. Their other dark-pelted cats are named Icemoon and Acornjaw: the moon casts brightness through the dark and acorns are a sign of new life. When a LightClan cat looks at our territory, they think about how dark it is, and how the dead wood trees must mean nothing ever grows here."

"But that's not true!" Ashenpaw argued.

"Exactly. Giving their dark-pelted cats a light name makes their mothers think they're doing something good for them." Duskecho explained.

"Is that why Nightfeather is named Nightfeather?"

"As far as I know, it is," Duskecho told her. "In LightClan, it's when a dark-pelted cat has a dark name, that you know their mothers really hated them."

"How does this answer my question?"

"I'm getting there," Duskecho purred. "We use this light against them: if we draw them into our territory, we can see them, and we attack them that way. If we attack them in their territory, we strike at night and blend into the shadows. Their light is their downfall. So, the closer you get to the light…"

"The greater your shadow becomes," Ashenpaw finished.

"Exactly," Duskecho told her. "Now, I think that we still have some hunting to do, don't we?" Ashenpaw nodded, rising to her paws.

* * *

Ashenpaw padded into camp, a water vole clenched in her jaws. She dropped it on the fresh-kill pile and sat down, lifting a paw to wash her face.

"Hey, Ashenpaw!" The she-cat turned her head to look at Nettlepaw.

"Hi, Nettlepaw," Ashenpaw meowed.

"So, how was training today?" Nettlepaw asked, sitting next to the younger she-cat.

"Duskecho and I hunted," Ashenpaw told him. "I caught a water vole."

"Water voles are always hard for me to catch, for some reason," Nettlepaw meowed. "Me and Kinkpaw have even joint-hunted for them- oh, you'll learn to do that soon with Amberpaw- and I still can rarely ever catch one." The tom shrugged. "Maybe the StarClan of water voles are just doing their best to protect them from me."

Ashenpaw smiled. "Well, you are such a threat to every other prey."

"Aw, thank you!" Nettlepaw meowed, nudging her with a shoulder. "Someday, I'll rule the Prey Kingdom, and I'll make you my deputy!"

"What's Kinkpaw going to be?" the dark-pelted she-cat asked.

Nettlepaw thought for a heartbeat. "Oh, you're right. I'm sorry, I'll have to revoke your deputy hood. And, obviously Ripplepaw will be Medicine Cat, he might even have a mouse apprentice some day."

"What?" the two cats turned their head to look at Ripplepaw, who was a fox length away from them with a confused look on his face.

"Nothing!" Nettlepaw meowed, drawing out the word.

"You'll have a mouse apprentice someday," Ashenpaw meowed, a serious look on her face.

"Um… okay," Ripplepaw meowed, giving them a strange look before he padded over to the fresh-kill pile.

Nettlepaw let out a sigh. "You didn't have to _tell_ him our plans for the Prey Kingdom," he meowed.

"You're right, he could train a water vole." The tom let out a snort.


End file.
